1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for activating and driving printing elements, which printing elements are formed as ink jet print devices, ejecting ink droplets. The ink jet print devices are disposed in several rows with in each case a plurality of printing elements. The ink jet print devices generate dots for the representation of a character at certain grid points within a grid formed in a matrix shape. The generation of the dots within the matrix is performed column by column parallel to each other. A thinning out of the required grid points is performed for the representation of certain characters and character groups, wherein each second printable grid point is suppressed in each column of the grid, and wherein the suppressed matrix dots in the respectively neighboring column are shifted relative to each other by a matrix dot.
2. Brief Description of the Background of the Invention Including Prior Art
Print devices recited above are furnished, for example, in ink jet print devices (DE-OS 1,941,680), wherein many printing elements print characters at high printing speed onto a recording substrate. These printing elements are formed, for example, as ink jet printing elements and are disposed in columns and rows such that they form a matrix. If a character is to be printed, then the printing elements, required for the formation of this character, are driven and activated such that the corresponding matrix dots are inked in the matrix, forming the base for the character formation.
In case of certain character representations (for example, near-letter quality or in case of larger character areas for the reduction of the ink volume), a so-called matrix thinning out is desired. For example, each second printable dot within the matrix is suppressed checkerboard-like in each column. The suppressed dot is shifted by one line in each subsequent column. It can occur in this context that thin lines appear frayed or are also lost depending on the inclination angle.
The first point, present for the formation of the character, was always printed in the near-letter-quality method in each column of the matrix and the matrix thinning out was only subsequently performed according to the checkerboard system in order not to lose any information. However, an interfering structuring of face-like representations can occur in this connection when the starting line is at an inclined or a curved angle.
A method for the adjustment of a serial recording device was submitted as a patent application by the assignee of the instant application on May 14, 1991 and received Ser. No. 07/699,932. A method for printing magnetically recognizable characters using a matrix print head as well as a method for producing the same was submitted as a patent application by the assignee of the instant application on Oct. 21, 1991 and received Ser. No. 07/779,954.